ACC ~ Matthew 4 v10

THE ATTEMPT TO CORRUPT BY AMBITION

HILARY: But now for the third time, the full ambition of diabolical power is at work. The Lord was taken to a very high mountain. All the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them would be his, he was promised, if only he would fall down and worship. His answer broke through all the devil’s suspicions. The devil had enticed Adam with food and led him from the glory of paradise to the place of sin—to the region of the forbidden tree. And he had corrupted him with ambition for a divine name by promising a future similar to that of the gods. In this same way all the power of the world is arrayed against the Lord. The possession of all this is offered to the devil’s very Creator, so that in line with the order of the ancient deceit, he whom the devil did not entice with food nor move from place, he would now corrupt by ambition.

But the Lord’s response put the matter on a higher plane. He said, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘The Lord your God shall you worship, and him only shall you serve.’” The devil had to live with the outcome of such great recklessness. His crimes were being discovered. He realized that the Lord his God must be adored in the man. By this effective response, the Lord gave us a decisive example. With human power having been disdained and with worldly ambition being held of little account, we also should remember that our Lord and God alone must be adored, especially when the devil’s honor has become the common business of every age. After this flight of the devil, therefore, the angels ministered to Christ. With the devil overcome by the man, his head now being crushed, we now can see better the ministering service of the angels and the unfailing courtesies of the heavenly powers toward us. ON MATTHEW 3.5. [1]

[1] SC 254:116-18.

THE LIMITS OF THE DEVIL’S POWER TO TEMPT

ANONYMOUS: He put an end to the devil’s tempting when he said, “Get behind me, Satan!” The devil could progress no further with his temptation. But we can rightly understand and reasonably ascertain that he withdrew not as though in obedience to the command. Rather it was the divinity of Christ or the Holy Spirit in Christ who drove away the devil. This gives us great consolation, for the devil cannot tempt God’s people as long as he wishes. He can tempt them only so long as Christ or the Holy Spirit who is in them allows him to. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 5. [1]

[1] PG 56:668.

THE DEVIL’S OFFER REVERSED

JEROME: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Begone, Satan! For it is written: the Lord your God shall you worship, and him only shall you serve.’” Satan and the apostle Peter are not condemned by the same judgment, as many may think. For to Peter it was said, “Get behind me, Satan,” that is, follow me, you who are contrary to my will. But the devil heard the words “Begone, Satan”; And it was not said to him “Get behind me,” as if it were a matter of simple subjection. Rather it is an instruction: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” This is the opposite of the devil’s earlier words to the Savior: “If you will fall down and worship me.” Now he hears that it is he who should worship his Lord and God. Otherwise, “Go into the everlasting fire that has been prepared for you and your angels.” [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.4.10-11. [2]

[1] Cf. Mt 25:41.

[2] CCL 77:22-23.

THE LORD MADE SPORT OF THE DEVIL

CHROMATIUS: David also prefigures this rejection of temptation when he speaks of the Lord, saying, “And the scourge did not approach his tabernacle.” [1] No sin of diabolical scourge could come close to the body of the Lord. Therefore the Lord withstood temptations from the enemy that he might restore victory to humankind. He thereby made sport of the devil, according to what David also proclaimed: “That Leviathan, whom you made to sport in it.” [2] And again: “He will bring low the false accuser.” [3] And also: “You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces on the water.” [4] In the book of Job the Lord declared that this Leviathan would be made sport of and caught in this temptation, saying, “You will draw out Leviathan with a fishhook.” [5] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 14.5. [6]

[1] Ps 91:10 (90:10 LXX).

[2] Ps 104:26 (103:26 LXX).

[3] Ps 72:4 (71:4 LXX).

[4] Ps 74:13-14 (73:13-14 LXX).

[5] Job 40:24.

[6] CCL 9a:255.